Sri Lanka moves to recover USD 2.5 million lost in Finance Ministry cyber breach

Sri Lanka’s Finance Ministry says efforts are underway to recover as much as possible of the USD 2.5 million lost after cyber criminals breached one of its computer systems.

Speaking at a media briefing held at the Ministry of Finance today (April 23, 2026), Secretary to the Ministry of Finance Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma said investigations have found that the hackers entered the system through email.

He said the Australian High Commissioner and the relevant creditor have already been informed about the incident.

Dr. Suriyapperuma said authorities first became aware in January that cyber criminals were trying to access the system, and action was taken at that stage by contacting the relevant foreign countries and bringing the situation under control.

He added that concerns over similar earlier attempts later led authorities to review past transactions, during which it was discovered that hackers had also been active in relation to a previous payment made in January.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said cyber hackers had gained unauthorized access to the computer system of its External Resources Department.

In a statement issued on April 22, the Ministry said it had lodged complaints with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka over the theft.

The Ministry said it had first informed Sri Lanka CERT and the Computer Crime Investigation Division of the Sri Lanka Police after identifying information linked to a foreign currency payment made in January 2026.

It also said a preliminary internal inquiry had been carried out, necessary steps had been taken, and disciplinary action had been started against several officials.

The Australian High Commission in Colombo said today that it and Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Finance are aware of irregularities in payments owed to the Australian Government.

It said Sri Lankan authorities are investigating the matter and are coordinating with Australian officials, who are assisting the investigation.

The High Commission also said Australia remains committed to supporting Sri Lanka’s return to debt sustainability.

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